Angolan Armed Forces
The Angolan Armed Forces (Portuguese: Forças Armadas Angolanas) are the military in Angola that succeeded Forças Armadas de Libertação de Angola (FAPLA) following the abortive Bicesse Accord with UNITA in 1991. As part of the peace agreement, troops from both armies were to be demilitarized and then integrated. Integration was never completed as UNITA went back to war in 1992. Later, consequences for UNITA members in Luanda were harsh with FAPLA veterans persecuting their erstwhile opponents in certain areas and reports of vigilantism. Commands The FAA is headed by Chief of Staff Geraldo Sachipengo Nunda since 2010, who reports to the Minister of Defense, currently Cândido Pereira Van-Dúnem. The defense budget in 2005 totaled 1.16 billion US Dollars. There are three components, the Army (Forças Armadas), Navy (Marinha de Guerra) and Air Force Força Aérea Nacional Angolana. Total manpower is about 130,500. (2007). Angolan Air Force Airforce personnel total about 8,000; its equipment includes eight Russian-manufactured Sukhoi Su-27 fighter aircraft and transport planes. In 2002 one was lost during the civil war with UNITA forces.globaldefence.net: Angolan Armed Forces retrieved August 22, 2011 (de) Angolan Army The army is by far the largest of the services with about 120,000 men and women.Global Defence.net: Angolan Armed Forces retrieved August 21, 2011 (de) The Angolan Army has around 29,000 "ghost workers" who remain enrolled in the ranks of the FAA and therefore receive a salary.Rádio Ecclesia: 18 anos das Forças Armadas Angolanas retrieved August 22, 2011 (pt) As of 2013, the Army has three military regions and 16 'brigades', comprising infantry, tanks, APC, artillery, and AA units as required. Major equipment included over 140 main battle tanks, 600 reconnaissance vehicles, over 320 armored vehicles, infantry fighting vehicles, 298 howitzers carriers. In 1991, the Air Force/Air Defense Forces had 8,000 personnel and 90 combat capable aircraft, including 22 fighters, 59 fighter ground attack aircraft and 16 attack helicopters. Angolan Navy (Marinha de Guerra) The Navy numbers about 2,500 and operates seven small patrol craft and barges. The Angolan Navy (MGA) has been neglected and ignored as a military arm mainly due to the guerrilla struggle against the Portuguese and the nature of the civil war. From the early 1990s to the present the Angolan Navy has shrunk from around 4 200 personnel to around 1 000, resulting in the loss of skills and expertise needed to maintain equipment. In order to protect Angola’s 1 600 km long coastline, the Angolan Navy is undergoing modernisation but is still lacking in many ways. Portugal has been providing training through its Technical Military Cooperation (CTM) programme. The Navy is requesting procurement of a frigate, three corvettes, three offshore patrol vessel and additional fast patrol boats. Most of the craft detailed are from the 1980s or earlier, but the navy acquired new boats from Spain and France in the 1990s. Germany will deliver Fast Attack Craft for border protection from 2011. * Fast missile craft ** OSA-II with four SS-N-2 Styx missiles - 6 * Fast torpedo craft ** Shershen class torpedo boat with four 533mm heavyweight torpedo tubes 4 or 5 * Inland-water and coastal patrol boats ** Argos 4 ** Poluchat-I 2 ** Zhuk - 1 or 2 ** Jupiter 1 or 2 ** Bellatrix 4 or 5 ** Mandume Class patrol craft - 4 [Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World- Angola, Eric Wertheim, 15th Ed., p5] ** Patrulheiro Class patrol boat - 3 * Mine warfare craft ** Yevgenya class minesweeper MH1 2 * Amphibious vessels ** Polnocny class landing ship 3 ** Alfange - 1 ** Landing craft tank (LCT 1 ** T-4 4 or 5 ** LDM-400 - 9 or 10 * Coastal defense equipment ** SS-C1 Sepal radar system The navy also has several aircraft for maritime patrol: Foreign deployments The FAPLA's main counterinsurgency effort was directed against UNITA in the southeast, and its conventional capabilities were demonstrated principally in the undeclared South African Border War.Library of Congress Country Studies The FAPLA first performed its external assistance mission with the dispatch of 1,000 to 1,500 troops to São Tomé and Príncipe in 1977 to bolster the socialist regime of President Manuel Pinto da Costa. During the next several years, Angolan forces conducted joint exercises with their counterparts and exchanged technical operational visits. The Angolan expeditionary force was reduced to about 500 in early 1985. The Angolan Armed Forces were controversially involved in training the armed forces of fellow Lusophone states Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau. In the case of the latter, the 2012 Guinea-Bissau coup d'état was cited by the coup leaders as due to Angola's involvement in trying to "reform" the military in connivance with the civilian leadership. A small number of FAA personnel are stationed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa) and the Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville). A presence during the unrest in Côte d'Ivoire, 2010–2011, were not officially confirmed. However, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, citing Jeune Afrique, said that among President Gbagbo's guards were 92 personnel of President Dos Santos's Presidential Guard Unit.Gbagbos letzte Trumpfkarte: als Märtyrer sterben, 7 April 2011 Angola is basically interested in the participation of the FAA operations of the African Union and has formed special units for this purpose. References Further reading * *Area Handbook for Angola, August 1967, Angola, A Country Study (1979 and 1991) External links *Official site of the Angolan Ministry of National Defence *World Navies *Brinkman, Inge "Language, Names, and War: The Case of Angola", African Studies Review Category:Military of Angola Category:Military history of Angola